Form of job security for teachers disappearing

Saturday

Jan 4, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 4, 2014 at 1:05 PM

A hot-button issue throughout the Tar Heel state centers on teacher tenure.

Wade Allen

A hot-button issue throughout the Tar Heel state centers on teacher tenure. It’s a form of job security eliminated by state law last year. Some argue that will make teachers more accountable for what their students learn. Others say it’s now easier to unfairly fire educators. The N.C. Association of Educators filed a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court last month, challenging the constitutionality of the law.

What is tenure? A form of job security for established teachers, making it harder for them to be fired. It entitles them to a series of reviews when their jobs are in jeopardy.

Under the old system: If a teacher did not meet standards, he or she was reviewed and given a warning. If the teacher did not show improvement, the school would not renew the employment contract, said Gaston County NCAE President Diane Gibson. Tenured teachers were then guaranteed an impartial hearing in front of someone not connected to their school system. If the teacher was not satisfied by the decision, he or she got two more chances to appeal — once to the school board and another to a superior court judge.

Under the new system: Supervisors can choose not to renew teacher contracts and fire teachers when the contracts expire. Teachers will no longer be guaranteed an impartial hearing from anyone outside of the school system.

The Pro-tenure stance Eliminating teacher tenure takes away a perk for those in the profession, said Diane Gibson, president of the Gaston County chapter of the N.C. Association of Educators. By 2018, all teachers will be on one, two or four-year contracts. How teachers are chosen for certain contracts has not been determined, she said. Gibson maintains the loss of tenure could create a constant turnover in schools, with teachers replaced regularly. “We want to grow our teachers and we want consistent teachers in the classroom, not a revolving door,” she said.

Anti-tenure argument Eliminating tenure allows teachers to be evaluated for their performance each time a contract is up. Supporters believe it will make teachers more accountable for how much students learn. The tenure system made it hard to fire teachers who perform poorly. Their salaries will now be tied to student performance, say supporters of education reform. Senate Leader Phil Berger, a republican who represents Rockingham County, has been the state’s most vocal opponent of tenure. He says ending the practice increases teacher accountability. Berger argued that, in many respects, the tenure system gave unlimited job security to everyone teaching a few years. He has often been quoted as saying it rewards mediocrity and punishes excellence.

How many teachers in Gaston County have tenure?

1,455. That’s 68 percent of teachers employed.

What did teachers have to do to earn tenure?

A licensed teacher in North Carolina had to complete four consecutive years with Gaston County Schools if he or she was not previously tenured in another state school district, said Gaston County Schools’ spokesman Todd Hagans. Satisfactory evaluations and principal recommendations were also required to earn tenure. If they already had tenure in another state, teachers had to be employed a year by Gaston County Schools to get tenure here.

Who still has tenure? School officials have argued the loss of tenure in North Carolina makes school systems in other states more attractive to teachers, a factor that can contribute to turnover.

South Carolina and Virginia have a tenure system similar to North Carolina’s, called continuing contracts. The contracts protect established teachers from being fired between school years or without an opportunity to address a recommendation to fire them. Teachers in Georgia sign annual contracts, Hagans said. Tennessee teachers have the opportunity to earn tenure.